Passage West GAA Club are again holding their annual U8 and U10 Ladies Football Blitz on the 7th of September. This will be the 11th year that the blitz has taken place and it is fully booked, with teams from 15 counties in Ireland participating on the day.
There will be 133 teams participating in the games. The blitz promotes teamwork and is a great way for young girls to participate in Gaelic Football, whatever the skill level, and is also a great day out for all teams that attend with various activities happening throughout the day.
The day is full of colour and fun for all involved. This is one of Ireland’s biggest underage events for ladies Gaelic football in this age group, and there will be a huge turnout on the day.
Photo Siobhán Russell
All participants take part in the parade starting at 11am where they get the chance to display their team colours. Teams will be treated to a RedFm DJ playing some music and the teams are encouraged to get a picture with the Red Patrollers before taking their place in the parade and being in with a chance of winning the Ken Sutherland Memorial Cup which is rewarded to the most colourful team.
This year, the parade will be led by the Red Patrollers and Cork intercounty players, with the Carrigaline Pipe Band, the Rebel group and local politicians such as Michael & Seamus McGrath, Marcia D’Alton and Donnchadh O Laoghaire also joining on the day.
The first round of matches will be kicking off at 12 o clock and all matches will be finished at approximately 3:30pm. There will be 19 games played at each time, and afterwards all participants will receive a medal of participation, as well as each club receiving a participation certificate.
Cork County Mayor: Cllr.Christopher O’Sullivan, high fiving the U8-U10’s Passage West Girls Football team at the Passage West U8-U10’s Ladies Football Blitz Launch, 25th July 2019. Photo Siobhán Russell
DJ Shane is joining us on the day to keep attendees entertained with the latest music, and at 3pm we will be joined by Gerald Ahern and his band. Gerald is an 18-year-old singer/songwriter from Cork City that has been making waves in the Irish music industry, and has supported such artists as Ryan Sheridan, Picture This, Bagatelle, Colin Raye and most recently The Academic at their Live at the Marquee show.
It is estimated that 2,700 players will be taking part, and 5,000 people will be in attendance. We are very grateful that the whole community and various sporting clubs in Passage West come on board on the day to help and support us, and for also donating sandwiches and cakes. We would also like to thank the County Board, LGFA, local Garda, parking stewards and all volunteers in advance for giving up their time to help us.
A number of local businesses have kindly sponsored the blitz, including IPH Building and Property Maintenance, Carrigaline Court Hotel, Passage West Credit Union, Tayto Ireland, RedFM, Fresh & Fast, Cinnamon Cottage, Rochestown Park Hotel, Barry’s Tea, CMP Milk, Munster Loo Hire, Musgraves, AIB, Baigs, Hugh Looney Signs and McCarthys Sportsworld Glanmire. McDonalds in Douglas have also kindly offered to do face painting on the day and give participating teams a discount if they call into them on the day of the blitz.
Noel Marshall, inventor of the Back Baller, will also be attending on the day selling his Back Baller and providing demonstrations on how to use the Back Baller correctly in order to self-treat muscles in your upper and lower back. The RNLI will also be doing a display on the day.
Freddie’s Ice Cream truck, a full barbecue and teas, coffees and cakes will be there for all catering needs on the day. For the local teams and the teams that will be staying over, there is an all ages disco starting at 8pm in the Billy Cotter Pavilion, with DJ Shane again playing all the best hits.
Passage West U8’s- U10’s Girls Football Team at the Passage West U8-U10s Ladies Football Blitz Launch, 25th July 2019. Photo Siobhán Russell
Speaking about the event, organiser Francis McEveney says “We are really looking forward to welcoming all attendees to the 11th U8 and U10 Ladies Football Blitz in Passage West GAA Club and also working with the amazing sponsors that have come on board. This event is all about promoting ladies’ football and emphasizing that sport is fun too. We would like to thank all our volunteers, referees, special guests and photographers from the Echo and The Carrigdhoun Newspaper and our own local photographers and organising committees for making this event a success in previous years and we would encourage supporters to come along on the day to cheer on the girls.”
Parking will be situated at both the primary and secondary schools and at the dock area. As this is a large-scale event, please arrive early and expect traffic delays in the morning. There will be minibuses available for a shuttle service too. We would like to thank all our neighbours in advance for their patience and hope everyone will come out and support this event.
For more information on the blitz, please check out www.passagewestladiesfootballblitz.com or visit the Passage West GAA blitz Facebook page.